Author Bio: Michael Kanuckel lives in a small rural town in the middle of Ohio with his two sons. He has been writing since he was in kindergarten, and always knew that he wanted to be an author. He has published short stories in various science fiction and fantasy magazines. He's the author of Winter's Heart, Small Matters, Grunge Childe, Agent White, Quatro and the upcoming Trollbreaker.

1) Most of your books are set in a classic fantasy world, was it tough getting into the noir tone of Agent White?

Not really. I’ve always loved the old pulp fiction detective stuff, like Mickey Spillane and his ilk, and there was a real revival of that when I was a teen, with Sin City and other graphic fiction. I just moved that into my world.2) Ezra is a strong noir character facing some unusual truths about his world. What do you like about him and his story?

What I like the most about Ezra is that he’s a no-nonsense kind of guy. He says what he means and does what he says. Even when faced with the fantastic, he never really loses his head. He’s goes into it with his same old attitude: how do I fix what’s wrong here?3) Are there any scenes that you admire from the book?

I was really proud of the sequence that shows Ezra getting his first glimpse at the world behind his world. I also really liked his scenes with “Stillfield” Liam Connelly, who is a pool hustler, and the old man Owen, who draws him into this business in the first place. And there’s a character named Denthel Halfhill who I really enjoy. Really, I had a lot of fun with the whole thing.4) Like Winter’s Heart Agent White is populated with great characters, do they come to you fully realized or do you feel that you’ve crafted them? Who’s your favorite?

Characters develop as the story develops. At first they just are characters- templates that you moved around on a soundstage. But then they begin to take on flesh, and a history, and characteristics that make them who they are. Then they aren’t characters- they’re people. I think my favorite character in Agent White (besides Ezra Beckitt) would have to be Boggle the gnome. He was just a lot of fun.5) Your books are set in the same world but in differing ages, what age is Agent White set in?

Agent White is set in the Third Age, which is basically like our own near future. Vondellius is a place very much like our own country- the flavors of everything are just a little different, just enough that if you were there you would feel a bit strange.6) Do things always play out the way you expect with your books or are there some big surprises as you go along?

No, things never go the way I think they will- especially with this book. I had no real idea how I was going to end it until I got there myself.